Sophia could understand why someone could end up attending a Hallowing, even if they weren't an ardent follower of the Broken Lord; it was a huge event for those who were, and they seemed to think everyone should go. That had happened to Sophia herself; she was pulled in by Aric; from what Ci'an told her later, he was probably trying to date her. She still wasn't certain why; she'd told him she was dating Dav. She thought she was pretty clear about that, too.

The entire Hallowing seemed to make more sense than Aric's actions, though. The Broken Lord took Wisps from all of his followers, probably from everyone who attended the Hallowing, and redirected them to the people he wanted to get them. He could probably only give them to people who had one of his Hallows, the special Spheres that were Callings but not Vocations. They were the entire point of the Hallowings for those who attended; gaining the Broken Lord's favor in the form of a Hallow meant both power and respect.

Among his people, at least. Sophia was less certain how the other Called saw them; in both Izel and Mazehold, the Vocational Registry was separate from the institution that reported to the Broken Lord. It was clear that the Broken Lord's followers were influential enough that the Registry didn't speak out against them, but they also clearly weren't subservient.

"You can call it a blessing if you want," Xin'ri spat. "It's a chain, and not a light one. I had a friend…"

She clenched her hands into fists and closed her eyes, then took a deep breath. "I had a friend until the day she walked into the Broken Lord's temple a few weeks after she reached the first Upgrade and received her Item Anchor. When she walked out, she had no interest in anything but making things to serve the Broken Lord and his people. She had no interest in doing anything other than making things and attending far more Temple events than she had before, and she was fairly devout before."

Xinri stared down at her lap, as if it held answers about her past. "At first, I put it down to joy in the Hallow she was granted, but it soon became clear that everything she made drained her. She hated it, but also loved it. The girl I knew started to show up again, once she'd slept off the creation and before it had been too long since she last made anything. And then the next Hallowing came around and she invited me to attend so that I could know the bliss of creating things to serve the Broken Lord."

Xin'ri looked up and shook her head. "That wasn't why she wanted to make things, before. She loved the act of creation itself, of seeing her hands turn matter into something useful. She completely lost that joy; when I asked her about it, it was like she didn't even hear me. I mean that literally; she simply ignored anything I said about her changed motivations as if she did not even hear them. I tried, but it didn't matter; a year after she was Hallowed, she killed herself."

That wasn't where Sophia thought the story was going. She'd expected it to end with Xin'ri leaving the other woman behind, not the woman's death.

"I was the one who found her; despite everything, I still tried to spend time with my old friend, while almost everyone else either left her alone or pushed her to make more for the glory of her Patron. I saw what it did to her, how it wore her down, and tried to get her to rest. No, Xin'ri, she'd tell me. I love doing this, the feeling of pleasure from serving the Broken Lord, the break from the pain of my existence. She wouldn't listen to me when I told her that she'd hurt less if she'd just slow down, that she was killing herself. And then one day she made a sword." Xin'ri paused and looked up. Tears glittered in her eyes until she rubbed them away. She couldn't avoid the way the tears showed in her voice. "A broken sword, the sort they use for Hallowings. They are not real swords, broken; they are made that way. It took all that she had to make it. She lay there cooling next to her last creation when I found her."

Sophia wasn't sure what to say to that, but she knew she ought to say something. Or maybe she should do something?

Before she could talk herself out of it, Sophia scooted over next to Xin'ri and gave her a gentle hug. It wasn't much, and she had no idea whether it would really help or not, but it was all she could think to do.

Xin'ri patted Sophia's hand.

Sweetfire sighed heavily. "That's not the first time I've heard a story like that. I didn't believe them until I noticed that the people who told the stories always disappeared within a few weeks, once people started to listen to them. Be careful who you tell; I believe that's why it's not known that making a Hallowing Broken Sword kills the maker, but it clearly says why those with an Item Anchor are Hallowed. I believe the Item Anchor is required to make the swords, and perhaps even that the death is part of the crafting process. I've been collecting tales about them and those who make them for years. There's nothing I can do to stop it, but someone should know."

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

"That doesn't make any sense." Sophia blinked as she realized she'd said the words out loud. Well, she might as well keep talking now that she'd started. "Death and making things aren't innately tied; there are very few ways that dying can empower something. The easiest, usually, is to have the death make more death, having it draw things to itself and push away … well, everything else. That can't be what the broken swords do, they're Wisp reservoirs not … oh, hells. I know why it would cost someone's life to make one of those things."

They were abominations, anathema to all of Sophia's training and background. Death Herself would hate them only slightly less than Sophia's father would, and Death was generally a very agreeable person. Sophia really hoped her guess was wrong, because if it wasn't, the people who made the "Hallowing" items weren't dead. They were far worse; they were trapped. "You said she was drained every time she made something. Did she ever talk about how many Wisps she got from making things, or where she put those wisps?"

Xin'ri frowned as if she wasn't certain why Sophia asked that question. It made her look more puzzled than sad, which was probably good. "No? I'm not sure she bought anything during that year. She didn't seem to care about progressing her Sphere, but that wasn't new. It was never something she was all that worried about; she was dedicated, and that meant she moved to the first upgrade quickly. Faster than I did, for sure."

Sophia nodded. That wasn't what she wanted to hear, but it also didn't mean that her worst fears were realized. It did mean that she probably couldn't find out if she was right or not by asking Xin'ri questions, though; Xin'ri didn't know her friend's Sphere well enough to answer them, and she also didn't know what her friend was trying to make.

There was really only one way to find out, and it was a way that was really unlikely to ever happen. She wasn't sure she'd be able to see it in a used item; the Wisps were all too likely to get in the way if they were what she now thought they might be: the raw stuff that made magic work, attached to a spirit for later use by the Guide in making Skills.

Sophia had no real idea how that would work; despite having a Grand Spell that had something to do with spirits, Sophia was not trained as a spirit mage. She only knew as much as she did about Death because it was one of her father's specialties. That did give her some ideas, though. Maybe she could combine that Grand Spell with her own Abilities to prove whether or not she was right.

Of course, that still depended on whether or not she had something to look at. It was almost enough to make her wish the Wanderer hadn't turned the Broken Sword into the bracelets she and Dav wore. Better yet, she could have investigated it more before they went through with the Transcedent's plan to cleanse it.

Maybe there was still something she could look at. "What happened to the broken sword?"

"It's in my item space," Xin'ri admitted easily. "It took Mo'ra away from me; I wasn't about to let the people who pushed her to her death have it. No one's ever asked me about it; I don't think they know it exists."

"They can be traced," Sophia warned Xin'ri. "At least, they can after the Broken Lord's people have them; I'm not sure if they can be before that or not. If they can't, that would explain why they haven't come after you for it."

"They must think she died without making one," Sweetfire agreed with a shake of his head. "That happens all too often. It's a terrible waste of people who could accomplish so much more if they weren't pushed into a path that leads to an early death."

Sophia shook away a thought about the reasons Xin'ri kept watch on Mo'ra after she was Hallowed; it didn't matter if they were ever more than friends or not. It might explain some things, but it certainly wasn't necessary. More than that, it was none of her business. "Can I see it? I, uh, might break it but I want to see if Mo'ra did what I'm afraid she did. If she anchored her soul to it so that she could be used by the Broken Lord as a Wisp repository and conduit so that he can Hallow others, she should still be there and I think I might be able to break her free."

Xin'ri's eyes widened and she seemed to pale, before she pulled a sword with the blade snapped near the hilt and in two places farther down the blade out of nowhere and tossed them in front of Sophia. "Free her. Now."

Sophia paused for a moment, torn between reassuring Xin'ri and starting work on the broken sword. She probably shouldn't have been so blunt about what she was looking into; if she was wrong, she'd hurt Xin'ri for no reason. Sure, she'd gotten her to hand over the sword quickly, but that wasn't the point. She should have come up with a better way to do it.

"I'm sorry," Sophia apologized. "I don't know if she's really trapped there. It's just a guess, I could be wrong."

"Then tell me she isn't, after you check." Xin'ri stood suddenly. "Or tell me she isn't anymore after you free her. One way or another, tell me that she's free and no longer hurting." She stalked out of the room without looking back.

"I'll go after her and talk to her," Ci'an said before the door finished swinging shut behind Xin'ri. "When you're done, let us both know. I had no idea it was something that severe." She stopped in the doorway on her way out of the room. "I'm glad the one that was in Izel is destroyed. Do you think that freed whoever was trapped in it?"

"I still don't know if someone was trapped in it," Sophia admitted. "But it was thoroughly destroyed. There's no one in it now."

She was confident that was correct, but she was still going to make sure of it if she found Mo'ra trapped in the sword. Just to be sure.

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